


Why a Flower Returns

by quiiiznak



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), SHEITH - Freeform, Soulmate AU, clone shiro - kuron, idk how to tag shiro's clone, one-sided shallura, platonic klance, post s3 ep6, spoilers if you haven't watched s3, they're only friends here i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-11 16:18:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiiiznak/pseuds/quiiiznak
Summary: There wasn't anything Keith could do but to watch the crumpled flower petals drift down to the floor, to form a puddle at his feet; ‘It looks like blood,’ was the only thought he had before he broke into sobs.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ninke_A](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninke_A/gifts), [HoddieMaine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoddieMaine/gifts).



> I feel like this is the first new idea I've had in awhile? (and honestly, its not even original) Anywaaaaay - I can't be the only one who thought this after watching season 3 ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I mean, come on - that's obviously not Shiro, and Keith hasn't suffered enough already sooooo
> 
> \---
> 
> Thanks for the title Linds! <3 [collector-of-hats](https://collector-of-hats.tumblr.com)
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr! [quiiiznak](https://quiiiznak.tumblr.com)
> 
> Enjoy!

**Red roses convey deep emotions - be it love, longing or desire. Red Roses can also be used to convey respect, admiration or devotion. A deep red rose can be used to convey heartfelt regret and sorrow.**

 

* * *

  

**I.**

 

_Something was very wrong._

 

_Ever since Shiro had returned to them, Keith couldn't shake that ominous feeling that something was wrong; something seemed…“off” about his and Shiro's relationship. Before the fight with Zarkon - before all of this; before Kerberos, if he was to be completely honest with himself - the two of them had gotten closer, much closer. It was clear that Shiro reciprocated his feelings;_ _Keith was hopeful for what might be, what could be._

 

_Keith was alone on the training deck - drinking a water pouch inbetween training levels - hoping to burn off some nervous energy and clear his mind when he found himself doubled over in a violent coughing fit. It continued for a few ticks; he had figured his water had gone down the wrong way - maybe he had swallowed wrong or too fast. As it subsided Keith struggled to regain his breath once he finished coughing. When he pulled his hand away from his mouth, he found himself looking at a palmful of blood red flower petals._

 

_“Oh no…”_

 

_It felt like his whole world had come crashing down around him. He couldn't breathe; couldn't hear past the ringing in his ears; couldn't think as he struggled over to the benches lining the wall. He collapsed onto his knees, just shy of a bench and fought to catch his breath._

 

_He knew something had been off with his and Shiro's relationship ever since they had found him floating in that Galra fighter jet but, for it to be this?_

 

_There wasn't anything Keith could do but to watch the crumpled flower petals drift down to the floor, to form a puddle at his feet; ‘It looks like blood,’ was the only thought he had before he broke into sobs._

 

* * *

 

It had been a month since Shiro had been found in a Galra fighter jet, drifting in open space, and to say that it had been an emotional rollercoaster would have been an understatement.

 

After Black had alerted Keith to Shiro's location, they had all rushed to him. Keith had grabbed the jet between Black’s jaw and hauled the ship into the hangars. Once he had landed and the hangar air pressure had stabilized again, everyone had jumped into action, working to open the cockpit and get to Shiro.

 

Hunk had been the one to finally pry open the cockpit, but it had been Keith that had pulled Shiro out. He was barely coherent - no one had any idea how long he had been floating out in the abyss of space; a quick glance at the fuel gauge showed that the ship had long since run out. Keith ripped off Shiro's helmet - the glass fogged with condensation from the remainder of the suits oxygen. Shiro's head rolled listlessly to the side, only held up between Keith's hands.

 

“Shiro! Hey! Wake up!” Keith lightly shook his hands in hopes of jostling Shiro awake. “Shiro! Come on - don't do this to me! Shir--!”

 

“Hey, man.” Lance had come up behind him and put his hand on his right shoulder; he squeezed it gently, “We have to get him into a pod, he's bleeding.”

 

Keith jolted; he hadn't realized how hysterical he had become. He looked down and could see blood seeping through the leg of Shiro's ragged flight suit

 

Coran had rushed to them, a floating stretcher waiting next to him. It took the three of them - Lance, Hunk, and Keith - to maneuver Shiro out of the cockpit and onto the stretcher. Keith squeezed Shiro's hand before he helped to lay him flat on his back. As soon as Shiro was laid onto the stretcher, Coran and Allura whisked him away to the med bay with Hunk and Pidge rushing after them. He hadn't realized that Lance was still in the room, slightly behind him.

 

He wanted to move - wanted to rush after to them. _Shiro was back; finally back home with him - with them_ , the only thing he could think was _Shiro was was back. shiro was back._ He wanted to be with Shiro in the off chance that he woke up before being placed into the pod; wanted, no, needed to be with his team now. He wanted -- he wanted -- Why couldn't he _move_? Why couldn't he move; why couldn't he breathe? He hadn't realized he had started to hyperventilate until Lance had grabbed him in a hug. His head was nestled in the crook of Lance’s neck, resting against his shoulder.

 

He tried to push away but Lance held onto him.

 

“Lance, I - I have to --” Keith hiccuped as a sob tore through his chest.

 

“It's okay, I got you buddy. That's it; just let it all out. Ssshh, I've got you.”

 

He shook as Lance held him; all the stress of leading Voltron having finally caught up to him. Lance just held him tighter as he broke down. Finally his sobs quieted and he was able to take a few deep breaths. Keith stiffened, redness blooming across his face. He pulled away from Lance with a sheepish look.

 

“Look, Lance I -”

 

Lance cut him off with a wave of his hand, “Hey, it's what friends do for each other.”

 

“Friends…yeah…”

 

“You've been under a lot of stress, more so than us. Trust me, no one is going to think any less of you for having a breakdown - having a panic attack - least of all me. It's happened to all of us at some point or another and it'll probably happen again; it comes with this line of work.” He chuckled, Now come on, let's go see what's going on with Shiro, shall we?”

 

“Yeah. And Lance?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“No problem man. C’mon, I'm sure everyone's waiting on us.”

 

***

 

The walk down to the med bay from Black’s hangar was quiet; a comfortable silence with neither of them feeling the need to fill it with mindless chatter.

 

As they turned the corner, Keith stopped dead in his tracks; almost nervous for what could lie beyond the doors to the med bay. Lance gently nudged him forwards.

 

“We’ll do this together then?”

 

Keith gulped; suddenly apprehensive.

 

Lance gave him a small, tired smile. “Look, I get that you're nervous - quiznak, so am I - but just think of it this way. He's home; he's alive. Whatever happens now, you've got all of us with you. Let us help you.”

 

Keith smiled, grateful for the sensitivity, _no,_ he thought, _the maturity,_ that Lance was showing towards him and the entire situation.

 

“Yeah. Let's go.”

 

Keith steeled himself as Lance fell in step behind him as the two of them walked through the doors to the med bay.


	2. Chapter 2

**DAFFODIL - Regard; Unrequited Love; You're the Only One; The Sun is Always Shining When I'm with You**

 

* * *

 

**II.**

 

Shiro had spent three days inside the healing pod, and Keith had spent every waking moment he was allowed right there with him.

 

The first two days had been pure hell on everyone in the castle.

 

When Keith and Lance had first made it to the med bay, Shiro had already been changed, courtesy of Coran, into one of the white medical jumpsuits and placed inside a pod.

 

The diagnostics Pidge had run showed that Shiro was malnourished, dehydrated and slightly oxygen deprived on top his other injuries; a fractured hip, a laceration on his thigh, and what looked to be a third-degree burn on top of the laceration where it seemed that Shiro had tried to staunch the flow of blood from the previous wound.

 

Coran had estimated that Shiro would need a full day in order to fully heal from his ordeal, the longest any of them had spent inside a pod - but no one had any idea how long it would take for Shiro to heal mentally.

 

That had been three days ago.

 

Keith hadn't left the med bay once; either standing in front of the pod watching Shiro through the glass, or sitting on the ground at the foot of the pod with his head in his hands.

 

Nothing had changed in the two full days since Shiro had been placed inside the pod - sure, his vitals had held steady and had shown signs of improvement, albeit slight, and his wounds had all but healed - no longer any signs of blood or burnt flesh through the white jumpsuit but no one could figure out why he hadn’t woken up yet.

 

Keith had been running himself ragged - between refusing to leave Shiro’s side, and still trying to lead Voltron from the medbay, it was unsurprising that he had already started to crumpled under the immense pressure.

 

Lance had been waiting outside in the hallway while Coran, Pidge, and Keith had been inside when Hunk had turned the corner with a tray of food from the kitchen.

 

Hunk gave him a small, sad smile once he was closer to Lance and whispered, “Are they all still in there?”

 

Lance nodded, “Yeah, bud. They don’t know why he hasn’t woken up yet. His vitals are improving and technically he’s got a perfect bill of health now but -” he shrugged before he continued, “We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess…”

 

Hunk readjusted the tray of food in his hands before he opened his mouth to reassure Lance - only to be interrupted by the doors sliding open to reveal Coran and Pidge; both with solemn looks on their faces.

 

Lance pushed himself off the wall, “No changes then, huh?”

 

Pidge shook their head, eyes downcast.

 

Coran clapped Pidge on the shoulder, “No worries Number Five! I’m sure everything will work itself out in due time. Perhaps the pod is just letting Shiro’s mind try to rejuvenate itself as well. Hmm?”

 

“I guess…” Pidge readjusted their glasses. “I’m going to work in my lab, maybe I can at least find out more about Lotor in the meantime.”

 

They all watched Pidge walk dejectedly down the hall, until Coran turned to Hunk.

 

“Ah, my boy! Is that for Keith?” He gestured to the tray in Hunk’s hands.

 

“Yes! I figured since he hasn’t joined us for a meal since…you know…”

 

Coran smiled, “Well! That’s awfully kind of you! I’m sure he’ll appreciate the gesture greatly! Although…” He trailed off as he twirled the end of his moustache, “I’m not too sure he’s quite up to having some company right now; might be best for you to just leave it inside for him.” He turned, “ Ah, well, If I’m no longer needed here then I’ll just head on over to the Bridge. There’s always something to do on a ship this size!”

 

They both watched Coran turn and walk down the hallway until they could no longer see him.

 

“Yeah, maybe Coran’s right,” Hunk moved to walk through the doors, “I’ll just leave this inside and -- Oh!”

 

That’s when they both heard it - light sniffling coming through the doors.

 

“Oh man…” Hunk looked toward Lance as they both shuffled closer to the doors.

 

Hunk and Lance were just outside the doors of the medbay, listening to Keith’s gentle sobs; they hadn’t stopped since Pidge and Coran had left after checking on Shiro’s diagnostics.

 

Lance sighed. “Just give me the food, I’ll go in; why don’t you go help Pidge in the lab?”

 

“Thanks, bud.”

 

Lance stepped forward so the door would open for him. His heart dropped when he saw Keith; Keith sitting on the steps in front of the pod with his head in his hands, shoulders shaking from trying to hold in his cries. He turned back towards Hunk who only gave him a thumbs up before the doors whooshed shut again.

 

Lance made his way over to the steps and sat down next to Keith, who jumped once the tray clattered onto the steps next to him.

 

“Wha--?” He looked at Lance. “Oh, uh…”

 

Lance gave him a tired smile, as he watched Keith try to dry his eyes; but the damage was already done - they were red-rimmed and bloodshot, not to mention the ever-present dark circles that marred the skin under his eyes.

 

“I’m sorry, I--”

 

“What did I say before? Don’t worry about it. It’s good. I’m just -- I’m just worried about you buddy.” He gestured to the blanket on the floor next to Keith. “This isn’t good for you; isn’t healthy in the least. You know Shiro wouldn’t want you to do this to yourself - he’s gonna be pissed when he wakes up and finds out we had to put _you_ in a pod because you ran yourself into the ground. Here -” Lance turned to grab the tray of food from Hunk, “At least eat something; and when you’re done - go get yourself a nice, hot shower and take a nap.”

 

“But Lance, you know I can’t! Someone needs to - I need to --!”

 

“Bup bup bup! ‘But Lance,’ nothing! You need to rest -”

 

“I’ve been resting…” Keith grumbled.

 

“Proper rest. In. A. Bed.” Lance glared, not backing down, “You look terrible. Have you seen yourself recently?”

 

“Gee, thanks Lance…”

 

“No, but seriously,” Lance’s expression softened as he pushed the tray into Keith’s lap. “I’ll wait here - stand guard - until you’ve had a few hours of rest and I’ll let you know right away if anything changes, alright? We all know how much Shiro means to you -”

 

Keith blushed as he ate, and grumbled. “It’s not just me; he means a lot to all of us…”

 

He watched Keith pick forlornly at his meal. “Can you trust us to help you with this? Shiro means a hell of a lot to all of us too. I mean, true - we might not feel the _exact_ same way that you feel about him but…” He trailed off with a smirk as Keith choked on his bite of food.

 

“ _What!_ What is that supposed to mean?!”

 

“Oh come on mullet, you can’t think we’re _that_ blind, now - do you?” Lance chuckled. “We can all see how close you two are; how much closer you’ve become.” He nudged Keith. “So come on - spill the beans. What’s going on with the two of you?”

 

Keith shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know. I know where I’d _like_ for it to go but…”

 

“Then let it go that way.”

 

“Lance, it’s just not that easy and you know it.” Keith sighed, - _I can’t believe I’m sharing all of this with Lance!_ \- “Especially with all of _this_ -” He gestured with his fork. “We’ve got no idea how long it’s going to take for us to defeat the Galra - _IF_ , and that’s a big if, we can defeat the Galra.” He pointed his fork at Lance and continued, “and besides, Shiro is our leader; we’ve got much bigger things on our plates than my feelings. I can’t let myself feel anything for Shiro other than comradery. I don’t want to chance screwing up the team because I’ve got a crush that might be unrequited. I --”

 

“What makes you think it’s unrequited?” Lance cocked his head to the side, a thoughtful expression on his face. “And in case you’ve forgotten, you’re also our leader Keith, especially now, none of us have any idea how long it’s going to take for Shiro to wake up - ”

 

Keith frowned, “ _If_ he wakes up…”

 

Lance continued as if Keith hadn’t interrupted him. “Like I said, _when_ he wakes up, and how long it’s going to take him to recover enough mentally to even want to lead us again. Look, I know you feel like this isn’t the right time, or isn’t appropriate or whatever. Just - you can’t let a chance for the both of you to be happy slip away; again, especially now - tomorrow isn’t promised for any of us.”

 

Keith was quiet as he finished his food.

 

As soon as he was done chewing, Lance grabbed the tray from him.

 

“Wha--?”

 

“You’re done eating, now go. Shoo. Go beat up the training bots, go get a shower, go get more to eat, just - make sure you get at least a few hours of sleep. _Please._ I’ll wait here until you get back.”

 

“Thank you…”

 

“Hey, stop with the thanking and get with the sleeping. We’re friends, and this is what friends do for each other. Besides! We’re running out of people to lead Voltron, and I for one would rather not have try piloting Black again.” Lance chuckled, “Now go, get out of here.”

 

“Okay, okay! I get it! I’m going.” Keith stood up. “But seriously Lance, thank you again.”

 

Lance smiled, “I’m glad I was able to help even a little, so--”

 

Keith cut him off, “You helped a hell of a lot more than a little Lance. Stop putting yourself down like that! You’ve helped me so much these past few days and with Voltron in general. I - I honestly don’t know if I would have been able to function enough to lead everyone if it hadn’t been for you. You’re my right-hand man - my space ranger partner.”

 

Lance sniffled, “Alright, alright; I get it.” He gave Keith a watery smile. “Now seriously, you need to leave; you look like you’re about to fall over.”

 

Keith yawned as he stretched, “yeah…”

 

With no other choice, Keith stood and made his way towards the door. He turned, with his hand on the door jamb, and looked back to Lance; Keith chuckled as Lance made more shooing gestures for him to leave.

  


***

 

The door whooshed shut behind Keith; it was silent in the hallway with no one else around. He let his shoulders droop and ran his hands through his hair, grimacing when his fingers snagged a few tangles; _maybe I should go get a shower,_ he thought to himself. With his mind made up, Keith began the walk to his room - the only things on his mind were a nice, hot shower and a much-needed nap.

 

Keith, not paying any attention with his eyes downcast, made it about twenty five steps down the hall before he ran head first into Allura.

 

“Allura --!”

 

“Ah, Keith. There you are! Just the paladin I was looking for; I was just on my way to find you.”

 

“Uh, sure. What do you need Princess?”

 

“Walk with me?”

 

“Of course.” Keith fell into step beside Allura; she looked just as exhausted as he felt. “Is there anything in particular that you wanted to talk about?”

 

“Ah. Yes, well…” Allura stopped walking to fidget with her hands slightly.

 

“Princess?” Keith put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 

Allura flashed Keith a smile and took a deep breath before continuing, “It has been…brought to my attention of your relationship with Shiro and I wanted to apologize in case any of my behavior has been--”

 

“Let me just stop you right there Princess,” he raised his hand in between them. “I don't know where you think you heard that Shiro and I are in a relationship--”

 

“The mice _might_ have mentioned something…” Allura mumbled.

 

Keith sighed. “Of course it was the mice.” He rubbed a hand down his face, “Okay look, thank you for the apology - although it’s completely unnecessary - but there is absolutely nothing going on between Shiro and I --”

 

“Nothing at all? Oh, but I was positive especially with …” She trailed off into silence.

 

“‘Especially with’ what? Keith questioned, a puzzled look on his face.

 

“Especially with the way he looks at you, of course. You have to have noticed by now?”

 

Keith just shook his head.

 

Allura chuckled as she placed her hand on his shoulder, “Ah, well, I suppose it’s not my place to tell you then, hmm?” She flashed him a sly grin and patted his shoulder. “I’ll let you get some rest for now then.”

 

“Uhhh…”

 

Keith was left speechless as he stood to watch Allura walk away. He turned to walk the rest of the way to his room only to find that he was standing out front of his door.

 

Keith was on autopilot as he groped the wall for the access panel to allow him into his room; he sighed as the door whooshed open, the allure of sleep pulling him in again. He shed his clothes piece by piece as he made his way over to his bed - falling face first onto it as soon as he was close enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realize how confusing this seems so far, but I promise that everything will start to come together in the next chapter - which I hope to have done by next Saturday


End file.
